One Day in July
by mochiinvasions
Summary: "One day in July, I met you for the first time." A chance encounter caused by a collision turns, somehow, into a date for two on one fine day in July.


**Title:** One Day in July  
><strong>Author: <strong>AkaYuki2106  
><strong>Rating:<strong> T  
><strong>CharactersPairings:** Netherlands/Canada, past France/UK (minor) and America is mentioned.  
><strong>Summary:<strong> "One day in July, I met you for the first time." A chance encounter caused by a collision turns, somehow, into a date for two on one fine day in July.  
><strong>Warnings:<strong> Intense awkwardness, non-descriptive kissing, AU, human names.  
><strong>Info:<strong> Happy birthday Canada!

* * *

><p>Matthew Williams' parents were by no means model parents. They had been horrifically young when they had had him, and not long after his birth parenting duties had been mostly foisted onto his father's serious, incredibly British and rather stern older brother, Arthur, and his then boyfriend, Francis. About 3 years after his birth, when his younger brother, Alfred, came along, parenting duties were entirely placed upon them, while their parents more or less disappeared. While the Englishmen and the Frenchmen were hardly role models, they did a fairly good job and the two grew up to be more or less normal. Of course, Alfred was perhaps a bit more boisterous than expected and he himself was rather more <em>invisible,<em> but for the most part they were good kids. Alfred, always the 'hero', never even thought of deviating off the beaten path and while he might have been a bit more _adventurous _than his brother, he never went too far later. 12 years later, when he was 15 and his brother was 12, their parents returned to their life rather dramatically. By this point in time Arthur and Francis's relationship was long broken off, although both were now on relatively good terms. That was if good terms equated to arguing with each other every time the other was spotted, despite each respecting the other. Arthur was doing a fairly good job of raising them by himself, and although his job at the embassy kept him working long hours, it was well paid. And they were okay. And then suddenly problems happened. Arthur's bosses back in England no longer wanted him to be in America any more but wanted him back as an international ambassador. This meant either finding someone else to care for them for another 6 years, or the whole 'family' moving to England. Just then, their parents returned. Cleaned up, wiser to the ways of the world, and with a greater hatred for each other even Arthur and Francis, their mother had taken Alfred somewhere into the deep south of America and their father took him into deepest, wettest Canada, where he had been born. Both children kept up good contact with Arthur, and certainly to Matthew, he was more of a father than his true father had ever been. After all, Arthur had never abandoned them, not even for a day, much less 12 years.

And 3 years later Matthew found himself, for the first time, on a plane to England. It was late June, school was out, and Arthur had been forced into taking a break. The older man, with no real joys in his life beyond work, had been taking less and less holidays in favour of working harder. His bosses had noticed that, and had told him that on no terms was he to come into work from the beginning of June until the end of August. Arthur had survived one week without work before breaking down and inviting the two of them to England. Alfred was volunteering until the beginning of August, but Matthew had little to do over summer, and so had taken him up on the offer. Seeing as Arthur was by now a frequent flyer, working so internationally, the other man had offered him a trip around Europe. And so, Matthew had found himself enrolled on an entirely Arthur-funded trip around Europe. And he hadn't found himself complaining. The plan had been for two weeks in England, followed by three weeks in Europe, after which he would go back to Canada to idle away the rest of his summer while Alfred would spend three weeks in England before the two took their annual holiday together at the end of August. And while flying 8 hours by himself had been mildly daunting he hadn't really minded at all. His father had taken him back out of obligation and in contest to his mother as opposed to desire to have him nearby and while the two never argued they never spoke either and really, anything had to be better than home.

The holiday had so far been pretty fun, with Matthew discovering first hand that England was actually pretty neat, enjoying the time to finally see his father after three years apart and learning that Arthur was a lot more lax now that he was nearly 18. Until, that was, the first of July. His birthday. Also known as Canada Day. As a result of this, his birthday tended to be even more ignored than it normally was, not that he really minded. What he did mind was Arthur's work. Of course, it had been too much to ask for three months without being called in, and despite all his arguing and repeating that he had prior engagements, Arthur had found himself being dragged, reluctantly for the first time, into work. Matthew had promised that he didn't really mind, that they could do something later, and had tried his hardest to make Arthur feel less guilty, though he wasn't sure it had worked. Once Arthur had left, Matthew had considered staying inside and moping about his birthday, but had figured after about 10 minutes of this that it was pointless, and that he could celebrate by himself.

He had celebrated by buying himself coffee and a brownie from the Starbucks near Arthur's house. Not exactly the biggest of parties, but good enough for him. Leaving the café he began to walk down the road to a nearby park where he could sit and drink his coffee, but not two minutes after he left the café he crashed straight into someone. He happened at the time to be standing still, to the side of the pavement, looking at a text from Alfred, which appeared to be what the other man was doing as well (looking at his phone that was, not reading a text from Alfred. He assumed.). And as a direct result of said crash, his coffee spilt. All over the floor. Luckily they both avoided getting any of the hot drink on their clothes, but still, that was a good £3 wasted. His first thoughts when he looked at the man he had crashed into was that the other was maybe a few years older than him and breathtakingly good looking (he had accepted not long after 14 that he was gay. The fact that he had not yet been in a relationship did not bother him. Much). Before he could even say a word of apology, the other man, who now seemed slightly intimidating, had fallen into a whirl of apologies and before he could get a word in edgeways Matthew had found himself dragged back down the road and into the café again so that the other man could buy him a replacement drink, as he had apparently been going that way himself. Once they were seated in the window seats, Matthew hastily ducked into his coffee, finding the direct stare of the other man to be a little too much. When he finished swallowing, they both began to speak at the same time. After an awkward pause Matthew took the initiative and apologised for standing in his way. Before he could even finish his sentence the other man apologised once more, reminded him that it was his fault for not looking where he was going, introduced himself as Lars and apologised again for his directness. Rather swept away, Matthew introduced himself in turn, and somehow found something else to apologise for. After a few more seconds silence Matthew politely asked if he lived in London. The other replied that no, he was in fact Dutch, in his second year at university and was spending his summer travelling around Europe. When prompted, Matthew explained his own situation: he was Canadian, staying with someone who was more or less his father and would later also be travelling around Europe. Lars cracked a joke about how they should travel together and Matthew found himself uncharacteristically saying that he wouldn't really mind if that happened. When asked about where his 'father' was that day, Matthew explained that despite being on holiday, he still had to work. He added, as an afterthought, that it was his birthday that day. The other had been silent for a while, as he stared out the window and felt slightly bad about the whole situation. Then suddenly the other told him to finish his drink quickly. He did so and looked at the other in confusion. Lars grabbed his wrist and dragged him outside the café again.

"Right," he said, "in order to stop you from spending your birthday alone, you can cancel whatever else you had in mind. Because you and I are going on a date."

Matthew briefly wondered when this had been agreed but went along with it anyway. "Wait," the other said suddenly, "I am correct right? That you're, uh, gay." He looked awkwardly at the floor. Matthew considered denying it for a second but decided not to. He barely knew the man but he didn't really want to spend the day by himself. Besides, Arthur wasn't around to lecture him. "Yeah," he said, just as awkwardly. Lars brightened up again, and took his hand again. "Right, where to first?"

* * *

><p>Their first stop off point was, of all places, Camden. Matthew had secretly wanted to go for a while, but when he asked Arthur about it the other had replied that it was a tourist spot, and not really that fun a place to go anyway. Matthew had taken this to mean that Arthur didn't really want to go, and hadn't complained. Lars however seemed determined that it was imperative that he go, and he hadn't argued. After all, when a fairly good looking man is taking you on a date which includes a place that you've wanted to go to for a while now, you do not, as a rule, contest this, even if his declaration that he was paying for the whole thing makes you slightly uncomfortable (he had money for goodness' sake, Lars really didn't need to pay). After traversing the market itself, a trip that involved purchasing more than a few trinkets, all of course paid for by Lars, the other treated him to a large pizza for really very little money, which they shared. He of course gotten sauce all around his mouth (how could he not, really, when he was on a date with a good looking man) and Lars wiped it off amusedly, teasing him gentle about the blush that rose to stain his cheeks red instead of the sauce.<p>

Sitting on the bench Lars quizzed him gently about where he had been. Matthew admitted that due to Arthur's dislike of any place too touristy and great love of museums and libraries, his visits had mostly been to those. And while enjoyable, he really did rather sort of want to do the tourist thing. Lars smiled widely at this and seized his hand, declaring that if that was what he wanted, that was what he would get. One boat ride (he managed to pay for this at least) later and while in the queue for the London Eye he began to wonder where Lars got all the money from. When he asked Lars about this the other had laughed it off, and told him finally that he had been saving for a while. He came from a fairly small town and had only travelled to London before once, and so hadn't taken any holidays for the last two years in order to save up for his trip. Matthew instantly felt guilty about Arthur paying for his whole trip and even more so that Lars was treating him. Lars brushed it off again and told him that it was his birthday, so he should shut up and enjoy the day. Laughing at the look of guilt that still remained on Matthew's face he declared him to be 'too cute'. Matthew contested this somewhat, his embarrassment at being complimented being the main instigator of this. Lars didn't take it back and instead told him that it really was true, and then it was their turn and he was nervously boarding the pod and _wow…_ He had never understood why, until this moment, every tourist desired to go on the London Eye. The trip really was incredible. Matthew stood with all the other kids, nose pressed to the glass and eyes wide. He could feel his heart beating faster until they reached the top and then…he was entirely lost, eyes wide as he walked around. The vastness of London was spread below him, and he swore that if he squinted he could even see Arthur's tall Georgian home. Lars pressed his body close behind him and froze Matthew's breath as he pointed out the various locations, body warm behind his. When he couldn't quite see something that Lars was talking about the other took his hand and pointed it out himself, covering Matthew's trembling hand with his own.

When they went to sit back down on the bench in the middle of the pod Matthew took a few seconds to try and get his heart back to its normal rhythm as Lars pressed their legs close together and took out a map of London and asked him where he'd like to visit next. After brief visits to various other locations, they stood by Hyde Park Corner station at roughly five o'clock. Lars had many ideas of places to visit, but Matthew had to remind him that he would be meeting Arthur later, and that he really should be getting home. Just then, a call had come in from the man himself, and Lars stood to the side and looked mildly affronted as Arthur had explained to Matthew that he really was sorry that he had to spend the day working, that he would be home by 8 at the latest and that maybe they could go out for dinner that night? Matthew replied that if Arthur wasn't too tired from work that would be fine, and that if not he could always make something for them. If there was one thing he had learnt from their years together it was not to trust the Brit's cooking. Normally the green eyed man would argue about it but he was too busy to do so this time and merely agreed, said goodbye, and hung up. When Matthew put down the phone Lars rolled his eyes and said "Didn't even ask how you were or if you were having fun!"

Matthew replied that Arthur was probably very busy, and that he was used to the other man's suddenness in hanging up on the phone. Lars mumbled something about how that didn't make it okay and then asked him when he was going to be home. "8 at the latest," Matthew replied, "which probably means 7:30 at the earliest." The man was not known for getting out of work quickly.

Lars sighed. "I guess this means we don't have much longer," he said, somewhat sadly. "Yeah, I guess we don't," Matthew replied and was struck suddenly by how much he would miss the man when they parted. "I don't suppose we'll see each other again either," he said. "Don't be so pessimistic," the other replied affectionately. "It's a small world after all."

"I suppose," he said, and smiled.

"That's better," Lars replied. "Now, to the café? There's no real point in going anywhere else if you need to leave soon. D'you have any idea where Arthur's house actually is?" he said with a laugh.

Matthew repeated the address Arthur had taught him and after a few seconds Lars reckoned that he would need about an hour to get home. "So that leaves me two more hours to enjoy your presence!" He said. "Whatever shall we do?"

Quickly deciding between embarrassment and amusement Matthew chose amusement and ignored the semi-compliment and replied that the café sounded good. They drank coffee and shared a slice of cake in the small café nearby and ignored the looks from their fellow customers. Walking back through the park they found a small bench to sit and talk on. Lars asked Matthew about his relationship with Arthur and Matthew found himself admitting the whole ordeal, from being abandoned with his brother in Arthur's hands to being taken back to Canada by his father. "I'm sorry," Lars said, taking his hand. "It sounds hard."

"It was at first," Matthew admitted, "but when I was younger I probably knew Arthur better than my own father, and when I got older even though I was angry at them I had Alfred to look after, and I was so used to Francis and Arthur that the hardest thing was when they split up. Francis moved back to France about a year after the breakup, so I haven't seen him in a while. I'd like to see him in France but I doubt that will happen. The two aren't really on good terms... What about you, what's your life like?"

"My parents split up when I was young too, though on good terms. Both remarried but I get on well with all my parents," he said with a laugh. "I have a younger sister from Belgium and a younger brother from Luxembourg. Our parents' nickname for us is the Benelux siblings," he said smiling. "Nothing really dramatic happens in my town. I'm just waiting to graduate next year so I can move somewhere else. I don't know where yet."

Matthew smiled at him and said "It sounds nice, your family."

"Oh you'd think! But much as I like my siblings, they can be a _pain_! Bel's the nosiest person ever and she feels the need to know everything about my life, especially my love life. She'll be delighted to know about this date," he said laughing. "And Lux is pretty uptight, but give him a drink or two and he'll be out of it immediately. He's a pretty funny drunk, even though he is only 16." He smiled, "But I suppose it's okay. Oh, I forgot to say, our nicknames for each other are the countries we're from."

"So you'd be…"

"'Neddie', apparently. Don't laugh; I hate it when they call me that."

Matthew couldn't stop himself, and the laughter tumbled out. He brought a hand to his face and tried to suppress the laughter. Lars pulled the hand away though and told him, smiling, that he had a nice laugh. Matthew hit him lightly on the arm and told him to stop complimenting him. Lars faked a pained expression, then the smile slid from his face, and he looked at Matthew seriously. "Really though, I don't want to abandon you to that. I wish we could stay here forever. Today was nice….thank you for coming out with me."

Matthew shyly placed one hand over his and replied, "No, thank you for treating me. I can imagine how this day would have turned out without you. Thank you for asking me out." Lars smiled back at him. "Here," he said, pulling out the notebook he kept in his pocket, and ripping out a page. He scribbled his number on the paper and handed it to Lars. "My number. If you, uh, want to call me sometime. Of course, you don't have to if you don't want to, it's just," he looked up at him, "I'd appreciate it."

He swore that was a blush he saw painting itself lightly onto Lars' cheeks, as the other folded the paper up reverently and put it away in his wallet. He took the notebook and wrote his number on it in turn, giving it back to him. "You better not lose that, because I don't want to call you and have you freak out not knowing who I am." He promised to keep it safe, and put it away carefully. They looked out across the park again, at a loss for words.

Lars took his hand suddenly and pulled him up. "Too many people here," he said, "come with me." Confused, Matthew let himself be pulled along the path until they reached a more secluded area. Matthew looked down at the grass, suddenly shy, and found himself wondering how much it would hurt if they really did never see each other again. Lars took his hand and began to speak, drawing Matthew's eyes up to him again.

"I've barely known you, and yet, it feels right to be around you. Like, we belong, or something. And I really do wish we could get to know each other better, but…I have something to tell you. I'm flying out tomorrow morning. Today is my last day in London. And in two weeks I'll be going home again. So I guess we really won't see each other again, if you're staying another week here. And so, I know this is sudden, but I guess we won't have a chance again. So I'm sorry if this is too sudden."

And dropping one hand to take his cheek he pressed their lips together. The kiss was soft, gentle, and Matthew found himself melting into the other man's hands. He had no idea what to do with his lips or his hands, but he closed his eyes and began to respond shyly to the kiss, moving his lips slowly. He slowly brought one hand up to wrap around Lars' waist, unconsciously gripping him tighter when the other man moved to break away. Finally they did break apart though, and Matthew felt a bright red blush climb up his cheeks. Embarrassed he hid his face in Lars' shoulder while the other man wrapped both arms around him.

"First kiss?" he asked, laughing at Matthew's shy affirmative. "It was very good for your first time," Lars said. Matthew blushed even brighter and hid his face deeper in Lars' shoulder. "You've never met Francis have you?" he asked. Lars laughed, and pulled his head back to give him another quick kiss, before checking his watch. "We should probably be going," he said, smiling still. Matthew looked at the ground again and willed his blush to fade. "Would you like me to take you back home?"

"Y-yeah, if you could," Matthew replied.

"Of course I can," Lars said.

The blush remained on Matthew's cheeks all the way home, but Lars wrapped their hands together in secret, and smiled at him again and again until he calmed down a bit. Lars walked him all the way back to Arthur's tall house in Highgate, before stopping at the doorway. "Here we are," he said.

"Yeah," Matthew replied.

Lars wrapped one hand around his waist and placed the other on his cheek and pulled him into another kiss, much deeper than the one before. Matthew wrapped both hands around his waist and kissed back enthusiastically, despite his inexperience. It was only when Matthew was bright red again; panting and his heart racing that Lars finally let him go again. He smiled again, and leant his forehead against Matthew's and said "I'd invite you back to my hotel room if you didn't have to meet your father later." Matthew blushed red at the thought leading Lars to laugh again. "Does the prospect scare you?"

"A little," he replied, "but only because I haven't, y'know, before. Not because it's you."

"Even though we just met today?"

"Even though. Because what you were saying earlier, I'm the same. Being with you is…even though I barely know you, it's right. I trust you." He smiled back.

"You really are very cute," Lars said, and placed a kiss on his cheek. "See you in the future," he said. "I'll call you."

He kissed him one last time on the lips. Matthew wrapped his arms around the other's neck and kissed him back once again and really, it wasn't his fault that he didn't want to let go. They broke apart; Lars placed his lips briefly on his nose and then turned to leave, waving as he went. Matthew waved back until he was out of sight and then let himself into the building. Walking up to his room he pulled the notebook out of his pocket and looked at the number written firmly in strong handwriting on the paper. This would not be the last time they met.

* * *

><p>I'm sorry for this. It was a massive rush written tonight and I don't really like it : I've had the idea for a few days and when I couldn't get into a yaoi mood in time I decided to use this instead. The date is in London instead of somewhere in the Netherlands because I don't know shit about the Netherlands and am too lazy to do research, whereas I know lots about London seeing as I, you know, live there. About Neddie's name, quite a few people have said that Lars isn't really popular in NL and it's not a good name, but it's the one stuck in my head, and again, too lazy to find a name for him. So until if/when Hima comes out with their canon human names, Lars is what I'll use. (Maybe I should use Armin /shot). The song I had in my head, though it had nothing to do with the fic itself, for most of this, was 'Ready to Go' by Panic at the Disco, if you care.

Anyway, I really can't think of anything else to say. This hasn't been beta'd yet, being a rush fic, so if you see any mistakes I didn't pick up at 2 in the morning please tell me, and as always, any questions, comments, critiques or suggestions, please leave a review and make me happy!


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